2025 Opportunity | Rethink Research & Publication

In the next decade, research will increasingly leverage human-software symbiosis as smart machines and software enter almost every domain of our lives. Simulation and visualization tools in particular will change the flows of research, extending human capabilities and enabling us to do things in new ways and to accomplish previously unimaginable tasks.

Research flows will increasingly include acknowledgement of micro-contributions; that is, lightweight contributions by hundreds and thousands to create a greater sense of the big picture. At the same time, the publication flows and peer review systems that have formed the backbone of traditional research and publication, will continue to feel like overly encumbered systems.

The opportunity space: to take advantage on a new set of foundational players all the way from basic research to publication and translation into impactful world-changing implementation. These foundational players will be organizations and platforms functioning as modern-day utilities—in which learning, connection and reputations flow.